Planning Out First Sli/liquid Cooling Rig.....help

**Soverntear** · #1 14th May 2009, 11:33

Hi,

thanks for looking. with summer here and my old socket 939 gaming rig not cutting it anymore. it's time for a new rig. carbons recommended computer parts guide has lead me to the following build: need input

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 or E8600 if i can find one at a good price
Mobo:GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA
Video: X2 EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB
RAM: 2x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
PSU: need input on possible modular
Optical: LITE-ON Black SATA ($24) (FS)
HDD: 2x Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB
Case: Thermaltake armor mid tower or armor jr mid tower
cooling: Thermaltake bigwater 735 kit and thermaltake Aquabay m1

now a couple questions on this. first and formost how much power will i need to run this setup? (im planning on putting in a couple more case fans to keep the gpus cool and a cold cathode or two to light up the liquid)

are there any recomended ways to keep the gpus from running super hot? im not comfortable modding the gtx's for liquid a bit too much at stake for that

also with the mobo, i noticed one of the pci express slots are runing at X8 is that going to give me less preformence from my second gpu?

any advise in general on building this rig/ liquid cooling/ sli? thanks again guys and gals.

**4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie** · #2 14th May 2009, 11:40

Corsair's HX and TX range are good, both modular, or most of them anyway a few models might not be.

And if you're using W/C then the case fans will have a bigger impact on the GPU's, which should easily be enough to stop them running to hot.

**Soverntear** · #3 14th May 2009, 11:41

i was hoping the water cooling wqould keep the inside of the case cool enough for the gpus.

corsair's are modular eh? well that settles the builder now just need a model

**4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie** · #4 14th May 2009, 12:09

WC'ing won't affect the ambient temp of the case.

Just use a couple of case fans and that should provide enough flow for the GPU's.

**Soverntear** · #5 14th May 2009, 12:15

long as i can keep the gpus below 50 ill be happy.

also in a setup in a midtowner case where should i be putting my radiator? the photo for the armor jr has it placed at the back outake fan spot

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Produc...C=1325&ID=1440 (scroll down to liquid cooling under features)

could this be effective? also if it were placed there where would i put the outake? seriously thinking the jr might have space restrictions

**cheesepuff** · #6 14th May 2009, 12:50

about both of them running at 8x, you will see no difference between 8x and 16x. last time i checked, the bandwith used in cards dont even reach the bandwith of 8x anyway. so you should be fine. im not sure if that still stands true today, but i think it still stands true.

**4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie** · #7 14th May 2009, 13:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soverntear

long as i can keep the gpus below 50 ill be happy.

also in a setup in a midtowner case where should i be putting my radiator? the photo for the armor jr has it placed at the back outake fan spot

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Produc...C=1325&ID=1440 (scroll down to liquid cooling under features)

could this be effective? also if it were placed there where would i put the outake? seriously thinking the jr might have space restrictions

Doesn't really matter to much - just find a space. You can even mount it on the outside if you want, or in it's own little seperate box.

Do the cards you're using have fans mounted on them?

It doesn't really make any odds what temp it runs at as long as it's not too high (or low...) my card in this PC I'm writing with runs at 56C, without any issues at all, and that's with he chassis fans trying to cool everything.

Whereas if you're CPU and whatever else is WC, then the chasis/case fans will shift air over your cards making them much cooler.

Don't worry so much about the cooling, it'll be fine

**Razer** · #8 14th May 2009, 13:28

http://www.journeysystems.com/psu.php

Should help your power supply finding. Good little tool that is!

You shouldn't see much if any loss from an 8x lane, don't worry about it.

**4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie** · #9 14th May 2009, 13:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razer

http://www.journeysystems.com/psu.php

Should help your power supply finding. Good little tool that is!

You shouldn't see much if any loss from an 8x lane, don't worry about it.

Shows options for DDR3 ram, but not LGA775?!

Where was the thinking when they made that..

**Razer** · #10 14th May 2009, 13:41

Hmm, I'll have another look. I think that may be the one I didnt use..

EDIT: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp That is soooo much better.